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| A movement in 20th century literature and philosophy, with some forerunners in earlier centuries. Stresses that people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves. With this responsibility comes a profound anguish or dread. Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Sartre, Heidegger, and Camus were writers of this niche. |
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| A movement promoting cooperation and better understanding among different religious groups or denominations. |
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The belief that God has created the universe but remains apart from it and permits his creation to administer itself through natural laws. Rejects the supernatural aspects of religion, such as belief in revelation, and stresses the importance of ethical conduct.
"Clockwork Universe" |
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| An approach to philosophy that regards external objects as the most fundamentally real things, and perceptions or ideas as secondary. Also used to describe a literary movement that attempts to portray life as it is. |
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| An approach to philosophy that holds that human life is meaningless and that all religions, laws, moral codes, and political systems are thoroughly empty and false. The term is from the Latin word meaning "nothing" |
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| Denial that there is a God. |
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| A denial of knowledge about whether there is or is not a God. Insists that it is impossible to prove that there is no God, and impossible to prove that there is one. |
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| A literal belief in the biblical account of creation as it appears in the Book of Genesis. Creationists believe that the creation of the world and all its creatures took place in six calendar days; they therefore deny the Theory of Evolution. |
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| The doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the highest good in life. Some hedonists have insisted that pleasure of the entire mind, not just pleasure of the senses, is this highest good. |
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| In theology, the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others. |
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| A conservative movement in theology among 19th century and 20th century Christians. Believe that the statements in the Bible are literally true. |
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| The view that human actions are entirely controlled by previous conditions operating under laws of nature. Often understood as ruling out free will. |
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| A system of ethics according to which the rightness or wrongness of an action should be judged by its consequences. The goal is to promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. |
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| An approach to philosophy, primarily held by American philosophers, which holds that the truth or meaning of a statement is to be measured by its practical consequences. |
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| The ability to choose, think, and act voluntarily. For many philosophers, to believe in this is to believe that human beings can be the authors of their own actions and to reject the idea that human actions are determined by external conditions or fate. |
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| The belief that natural objects such as rivers and rocks possess a soul or spirit. Derives from the Latin word for "soul" or "spirit". |
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| The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and origin of knowledge. Asks the question, "How do we know what we know?" |
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A philosophy that florished in ancient Greece and Rome. Believed that people should strictly restrain their emotions in order to attain happiness and wisdom; hence, they refused to demonstrate either joy or sorrow.
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| The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of art and with judgements concerning beauty. "What is art?" and "What do we mean when we say something is beautiful?" are two questions often asked in this philosophy. |
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